It’s always an easy target for reviewing and jest about the number of bands/projects that Rogga Johansson is involved with, but Ribspreader has been going strong for plenty of time so it’s easy to give it some judgment on its own accords. Suicide Gate – A Bridge to Death is the band’s sixth effort, and yeah, it’ sounds just about how you’d expect it to.
Ribspreader was introduced as a tribute to the mainstays of Swedish death metal (Carnage, Dismember, Edge of Sanity), and they got plenty of time in before the legions of old school worshipping bands jumping on board in the last five years or so. What they’ve always done that keeps things more interesting is their inclusion of the more melodic death metal side into the d-beat/HM-2 driven stuff. That trend continues here, with “The Suffering Earth” having some of the album’s best melodies, really pushing that EoS feel without it feeling like a total copyright infringement. As one could guess (particularly if you are familiar with past efforts), most of the tracks hang around in that mid-tempo range – pushing some groove, occasional speed, and occasional doom to change it up, with injections of some light melodies coming in at the right times for added support.
Suicide Gate won’t change your mind about Ribspreader, nor will it be heralded for its overall originality, but it does its job well. Swedish-sounding death metal with some solid forays into melody without losing its impact. The formatting hasn’t changed, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working anymore either.